20 Mar
Starting a blog can be quite simple.
You don’t need any real technical know-how to do it. You need to know your way around a computer, but you don’t have to be a programmer or know a thing about HTML to set up a great-looking blog. Here are some basic tips, and then we’ll talk about some of the specific options that are available to you.
-Pick a snappy name. You want something memorable. It should be unique – meaning you need to research to make sure nobody else has used the name – and relevant to your niche.
-Before you set up your blog and it goes live, you should have some content prepared.
-You should also think about design. The blogging platforms we will discuss here will provide you with templates to use, but you should have an idea of what you want in terms of colors and the overall feel of your blog.
Free Options
As I mentioned earlier, there are several free options available to you if you don’t have money to spend on your blog. The downside of setting up a free blog is that you won’t own the website. Your URL will include an extension, meaning that instead of:
www.YourAwesomeBlog.com it will look like: www.YourAwesomeBlog.wordpress.com
You will be somewhat at the mercy of the blog hosting site, too. If they go offline for any reason, your blog will be offline as well. Here are some of the most popular free options for blogging:
1.WordPress. It’s important to note here that we are talking about WordPress.com, which is a free blogging platform. WordPress.org is software that bloggers use to build their own websites. Setting up a blog on WordPress is very easy. They provide bloggers with dozens of free templates to choose from, and a host of easy-to-use blogging and editing tools.
You can write blog posts in advance and schedule them for publication, and it’s easy to format text and add images.
2.Blogger. Blogger is very similar to WordPress. They provide free templates, drafting, and editing tools.
3.Weebly. Weebly has a slightly quirkier feel than the other sites mentioned, but it has many of the same features. Again, the big downside of using a free blogging platform is that you won’t own your blog. Your domain name will be diluted by the additional extension on it.
Paid Options
The other option you have available to you is to pay to set up your blog. By far the most popular way to do that is to use WordPress.org. WordPress has hundreds of templates available – many are free, but some you may have to pay to use. You can choose a template that is mobile-ready (which I recommend) and choose from hundreds of Plugins that will add features to your blog.
You could also consider putting your blog on your own website, but that will mean that you might have to wait while you get your website designed and ready to go – something we’ll talk about in the next chapter. You will have the option of migrating your blog from WordPress to your website once you get it set up.
Using Blogs to Increase Authority
Now let’s talk about why blogging is, in my opinion, one of the best things you can do to increase your authority. To be an authority in a particular niche, it’s not enough simply to have knowledge. You need to have opinions. You need to add value to the conversation by bringing something new to it.
After all, if someone wants the information that’s already available about your niche, they can do exactly what you just did, right? They can research, buy books, watch videos, and educate themselves. There’s no point of blogging if you’re just going to regurgitate information that’s already out there. The best way to use blogging to increase your authority is to find a way to bring something unique to the table.
For example, you might:
-Find someone else’s old blog post about a key topic, and update it by including new information and adding your personal twist,
-Offer up a controversial opinion about something relevant in your niche
-Give your readers advice about how to do something you haven’t seen explained elsewhere.
Those are just a few options, but I hope you get the idea. You’re going to have competition no matter what you do, but you can always find a way to make something fresh by coming at it from a new angle.